Retirement and Depression

Retirement, & Depression

       Betty Freidan in her excellent book The Fountain of Age (published in 1993) indicates that depression can be a natural response to the loss of power and purpose. Losing one’s sense of these characteristics is often associated with retirement

         Simone de Beauvoir was a French existentialist philosopher who died in 1986.  One of her many books focuses on The Coming of Age (published in 1972.)  Most of the key ideas in this post are taken from that book. She comments that many gerontologists agree that being without work and having feelings of uselessness during the last twenty years of one's life is psychologically and sociologically very difficult. She suggests that retirees have two requirements, to rest and to live decently. Living in poverty, especially under current economic conditions, raises the question of how many of us will have the resources to rest and live decently and therefore may become vulnerable to depression.

         Gradual retirement, sometimes called bridge retirement, is better than a “sudden chop.” I can personally confirm this. Since I began my struggle against mandatory retirement 5 years ago I have been teaching only two classes. It effects my paycheck and pension contributions but it is a lot more comfortable than teaching a full load of four courses. I am, however, somewhat concerned with my likelihood of living decently after I retire.

         In summary, retirement as a radical break cutting us off from our past, may force us to adapt to a new status that on the negative side, can lead to “a lasting state of depression” If you are retired or close to retirement the following questions may be useful.

        

Some Depression Questions

1. Depressed Mood

Do you often feel "sad" or "empty" or may cry frequently.

2. Decreased Interest or Pleasure

Do you have markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, daily activities?

3. Weight Changes

Do you have significant changes in weight when not attempting to   gain or lose weight? (A gain or loss of 5% or more in a month)

4. Sleep Disturbances

Do you have a hard time getting to sleep or sleeping too much?

5. Psychomotor Agitation or Retardation

Do you find yourself either agitated and restless or physically slowed down when you are moving?

6. Fatigue

Do you often feel deep fatigue or a loss of energy?

7. Feelings of Worthlessness or Guilt

Do you feel that you have no value or inappropriately guilty about things you have no control over?

8. "Brain Fog"

Do you have a diminished ability to think, concentrate or make decisions?

My Leisure Options in Retirement

My Leisure Options in Retirement

1.   Art has always been an interest to me.  I really like to create poetry (go to my site Art With Wrinkles). I also like to paint with acrylic.  While I am being creative I am very happy.

2.    I love to read books and have a room with at least a  hundred novels.  One of my favourite novelists is Steven King.

3.   I enjoy TV; everything from the news each day to series that continue for months (and sometimes years) (and also like movies)

4.   I sit at my laptop for hours playing games.  My favourite type of games are Time Management.

5.   And from where ever it comes; radio, TV or singing to myself taking a shower; I love to here music. One of my favourites TV shows is The Dance Academy, produced and sent from Australia.

6.   And finely I really like to do research. If you are interested, go to Retirement: Third Age Learning New Beginnings

Ageism Humor and Songs by Erdman Palmore ISBN

Ageism Humor and Songs[1]

In 1971 I published the first study of attitudes toward aging as shown my humor.  This was a content analysis of 264 jokes about aging and elders, classified in terms of subject matter, gender, activity, and positive versus negative views of aging.   More than half of the jokes reflected a negative view of aging or elders, and only one-quarter were entirely positive toward aging.

     Since then several other studies have done content analysis of jokes, cartoons, and birthday cards about aging.  They all reached similar conclusions: that the majority of humor reflects or supports negative attitudes toward aging, and that positive humor about aging is rare.

    Even jokes that are judged to be “positive” often depend on a contradiction of negative stereotypes for their humor. For Example

One old lady tells her friend “ I didn’t sleep well last night because a man kept pounding on my door.”

“Why didn’t you open the door?”

“What and let him out?”

  This s funny only because of the stereotype that assumes that old ladies are not interested in sex.  Thus even “positive” jokes often assume negative stereotypes.

In summary, most humor about ageing tends to support negative ageism.  Just as there are racist and sexist jokes, there are ageist jokes.  Most of the tellers and listeners are not conscious of their ageist implications.  This may even increase the joke’s impact on the listener’s unconscious attitudes.

     Similarly, a recent analysis of over 300 pieces of sheet music related to ageing found that a substantial majority presents a negative view of aging and old age.

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[1]  Material for this post comes from: Ageism: Negative and Positive. It was produced by Erdman Palmore in Ageism Negative and Positive   ISBN  0-8261-7000-5

Living Well In Retirement

Living Well In Retirement 

       Retirement has different meanings to different people. Some people stop working completely with levels of ambivalence. Some people cut back on their hours gradually and consider themselves semi-retired. There are also those people who cut back on their hours and say they will keep working until they die. On the other end some people can hardly wait to retire, Planning involves not only financial but social factors. Consider the following questions. 

1.  What does or will Retirement Mean to you

2.  Do you consider yourself retired, semi-retired working full time?

3.   Were you or are Ready To Retire?

4.  Have you (or did you) consider complete or partial          retirement? In other words, consider part-time or        temporary work, or even a less than full-time 

small business venture?

5.   How do the following Represent your feelings and

      understanding

a.   Do you consider yourself retired, semiretired,

b.   Have you watched or listened to programs on health?

c.   Have you joined a club, team, or organization?

Age Identity and The Politics of Self

Age Identity And the Politics of the Self[1]

The subjective experience of being ignored, devalued and disadvantaged as served as a trigger for many individuals who possess ‘minority group’ status seek collectively to obtain due hearing in the political process.  This has not happened to any substantial degree with older people.  Despite the growing political power of the grey vote, there is little evidence that politics directed at specific circumstances of older people are higher up the agenda now than they were 50 years ago.

Embracing age as a politicized identity, and we can argue will remain, to transgressive a step for even the most radical groupings.  For now, at least, resisting age rather than ageism greases more palms, oils more deals, and turns more dollars.  Perhaps, resistance can only be expressed by inertia—not bothering to participate as an age-graded consumer.

Aging, not old age has been the focus of the book.  If old age an essentialist status, structured and determined by physical decline and social marginalization, aging can be seen as a process of negotiation between that and the statuses of adulthood.  Negotiating on how to remain an adult, how to develop as an adult and how to avoid the loss of adult statuses is a task confronting more and more people as they enter post-working life. 

 (This book is full of great information and those of you who are or will be determined to resist ageism should read more)

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[1]  Material for this post was found in Cultures of Aging.  Created by Christopher Gilleard & Paul Higgs.  ISBN  0-582-35641-5  in the year 2000

Memory Aids

Memory Aids[1]

·   Write it down.   The act of writing itself helps the process of memory as well as serving as a reminder if it is written on your calendar or posted in a prominent place ( like your laptop).

·  Create a visual image. This helps process the memory into another are of the memory banks.

·  Associate it with something you already know; connect the memory with another one, such as another similar name or word or image

·  Memorize small chunks at a time.  Think of a phone number as three chunks (area code, the exchange, and the individual number), not one long number

·  Be consistent about where you put things. Designate one or two places that you put down your glasses or key or wallet or hearing  aid.  Do not put your wallet away until you have put your credit card into it.

·  Look for visual cues.  To remember where you parked, look for specific landmarks, or write down the number of the space

·  Set a timer to remind you to take care of something, like turn of the burner or wake up from a nap.

I find these quite helpful

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[1] By Oversem, Thomas Nicolaj, Larsen Lars; Solem, Per Erik Nordic Psychology, Vol 61 (3) Nov 2009 4-22.

Conceptual Analysis of Ageism #1

                                            Conceptual Analysis of Ageism[1]

A broad definition of Ageism

Ageism is defined as negative and positive stereotypes, prejudice and/or discrimination against (or advantage of) elderly people on the basis of their chronological age or on the basis of a perception of them as being ‘old’ or ‘elderly’.  Ageism can be implicit or explicit and can be expressed on a micro- . meso- or macro-level.

The concept includes the classic social psychological components in the form of 1) cognitive (stereotypes). 2) affective (prejudice), 3) and behavioral components (discrimination), in other words, how we on the basis of chronological age or age categorization mistakenly;  1) think of, 2) feel for, 3) and act on the aging human being.

Furthermore, ageism can operate both consciously (explicitly) and unconsciously (implicitly) and it can manifest itself on three different levels, individual (micro-level), in social networks (meso-level) and on institutional and cultural level (macro) level).  As a consequence the definition contains the following key dimensions.

The three classic components (cognitive, affective, and behavioral)

1.    The positive / negative aspect (positive and negative ageism)

2.    The conscious /unconscious aspect (implicit and explicit ageism

3.    The typological division of levels (ageism on micro- meso- and macro-level

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[1]  By Iversen, Thomas Nicolaj; Larsen, Lars; Solem, Per Erik, Nordic Psychology,  Vol  61(3), Nov 2009,  4-22